1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage systems for storing data.
2. Description of Related Art
Storage Service Providers (SSPs) and, more particularly, Interne SSPs, are providers of storage capacity that enable users to stored large amounts of data via the Internet in centralized managed storage facilities. For example, companies such as Verizon®, AT&T®, Comcast®, and other Internet and telecommunications companies now provide storage space for a fee (sometimes referred to as “online storage”) that is accessible via the worldwide web, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), or the like, to enable end users, such as individuals and/or companies to store, backup, and share files, such as documents, photographs, multimedia files, and the like. Also, companies such as Apple® and Amazon® provide web-based storage space to enable users to backup and share files, such as for web-based application developers to share data and programs.
Storage services provided via the Internet are usually web-based, and thus, the access protocols used for accessing the storage space provided by the provider of storage services are typically Internet Protocol (IP)-supported protocols, such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or FTP, but may also be a specialized API (Application Program Interface). Clients or end users are able to utilize the storage capacity through a client application such as a web browser, for example, Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, or the like. However, the interfaces provided by the web browsers mean that clients or end users cannot easily utilize the SSP storage capacity in the same way that they would use a conventional file system or volume in a storage system, because the Internet-based SSPs do not support common storage access interfaces and protocols such as SCSI and NFS/CIFS.